Principal’s Report

It’s a busy and exciting time at Emerald Primary School as we head towards the end of the year!

We’re kicking things off with our Working Bee tomorrow (Thursday 13th November) at 2:30pm. Everyone is welcome to lend a hand — even an hour makes a difference. There’ll be plenty of jobs to do and some tasty afternoon tea to share as we spruce up our school grounds in time for the big weekend ahead. Please sign in at the Office if you are attending.

Speaking of which, excitement is building for the EPS Fair this Saturday 15th November! It’s shaping up to be a fantastic community event, filled with fun, food, entertainment, and plenty of activities for the whole family. We can’t wait to see everyone there supporting our school.

Volunteers are still needed to help run the stalls on Fair day,  to Volunteer on a stall https://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/rpyeb

Pre-Order Unlimited Rides Wristbands here  https://www.trybooking.com/DFVXO

Our Prep 2026 Transition Program continues tomorrow with the final transition session before the Meet the Teacher Evening on Tuesday 26th November. Our future Preps will then enjoy their final visit for the year on Tuesday 9th December, as they continue to get ready for the big adventure of starting school next year!

Looking ahead, our Junior School Cross-Country Run will be held on Wednesday 19th November in the afternoon. We’re looking forward to seeing lots of enthusiasm, smiles, and teamwork on the day.

Finally, a reminder that Friday 28th November is a Professional Practice Day for teachers. No students are required at school on this day.

Thank you to our wonderful school community for your continued support and involvement — it’s what makes Emerald Primary such a special place to learn and grow!

Bushfire At Risk Register for Schools – Emerald Primary School is in Category 3

School preparedness and pre-emptive actions for the bushfire season

Schools and early childhood services undertake a range of activities each year to prepare for bushfires and grassfires.

The Department of Education conducts an annual fire risk assessment of schools and early childhood services. Those at the greatest levels of risk are published on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR) and Category 4 list.

Schools at the highest levels of risk (Categories 0, 1 and 2) take pre-emptive actions on elevated fire danger days in their Local Government Area according to their fire risk category to minimise the risk of being caught in a fire in these conditions.

All schools and early childhood services listed on the BARR and Category 4 list will also close when a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast in their fire weather district.

As part of preparing our school for the fire season, we have updated and completed our Emergency Management Plan and conducted maintenance works that may assist in preparing for the threat of fire and cleared our school’s grounds and gutters.

What does this mean for our school?

Our school has been identified as being at risk of bushfire or grassfire and is a Category 3 school.

Our school will close on a day forecasted as Catastrophic fire danger rating in CENTRAL fire district.  

What is the department’s policy?

The department’s Bushfire and Grassfire Preparedness Policy requires all schools and early childhood services on the BARR and the Category 4 list to close when a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast in their fire weather district. All school bus routes which travel in or through a district with Catastrophic fire danger must also be cancelled.

When will our school be closed due to Catastrophic fire danger?

Our school will close on a day forecasted as Catastrophic fire danger rating CENTRAL fire district.

Closure of the school due to a forecast Catastrophic day will be confirmed on the day prior and we will provide you with advice before the end of the school day. Any information regarding potential or confirmed Catastrophic fire danger days will be communicated to you via a Compass message.

Once confirmed, the decision to close will not change, regardless of improvements in the weather forecast.  This is to avoid confusion and help your family plan alternative care arrangements for your child.  It is also important to be aware that:

  • No one will be on site on days where the school is closed due to a forecast Catastrophic day.
  • All bus routes that travel through the Catastrophic area will be cancelled.
  • School camps will be cancelled if a Catastrophic fire danger rating day is forecast for fire weather district in which the camp is located, or if the travel involves passing through areas that have Catastrophic fire danger.

Families are encouraged to enact their Bushfire Survival Plan on Catastrophic fire danger rating days.  On such days, children should never be left at home alone or in the care of older children.

For those of us living in a bushfire prone area, the Country Fire Authority (CFA) advises that when Catastrophic days are forecast, the safest option is to leave the night before or early on the morning of the Catastrophic day.

What can families and the school community do to help us prepare?

  • Ensure we have your current contact details, including your mobile phone numbers.  Keep in touch with us by reading our newsletters, checking our website www.eps.vic.edu.au  , by talking to your child’s teacher or any other member of the teaching staff about our emergency management plan.
  • Make sure your family’s bushfire survival plan is up-to-date and includes alternative care arrangements in the event that our school is closed due to elevated fire danger or closed due to a Catastrophic fire danger. Further information can be found on the CFA’s website.
  • Enact your family’s bushfire survival plan if your own triggers are met. Our school community may be spread out across many areas and some families may be at higher risk than others. Your family’s safety is critical, so please let us know if you are enacting your bushfire survival plan and if your children will be absent on these days.
  • If your child is old enough, talk to them about bushfires and your family’s bushfire survival plan.

You can find more information on emergencies, warnings and preparedness actions here:

  • VicEmergency app – that can be downloaded on your android and iOS mobile devices
  • VicEmergency Hotline (1800 226 226)
  • Website https://emergency.vic.gov.au
  • ABC local radio, Sky News and other emergency broadcasters

  • November Events: 
    • Thursday 13th November – Prep 2026 Transition Program
    • Thursdy 13th November – Rescheduled Working Bee @2.30pm
    • Saturday 15th November – School Fair
    • Thursday 20th Novemeber – School Council Meeting @ 7.30pm
    • Friday 21st November – Assembly
    • Monday 24th November – Grade 5 Indoor Soccer
    • Wednesday 26th November – Prep 2026 Meet the Teacher Evening
    • Friday 28th November – Curriculum Day (No Students at School)

Emma Clark

Principal

This Week…

🏆 STATE ATHLETICS

Kobe Wins State Title!
A huge congratulations to Kobe, who won the 12/13 Boys Hurdles at last week’s State Athletics Championships with an outstanding time of 12.22 seconds — just a whisker off the State record!

We are incredibly proud of your amazing achievement, Kobe!

Guiness Book of World Records Attempt!

Written by Albie         

Hello readers of the newsletter,

I’d like to tell you about something really exciting! Mr. Sutherland, Alistair, Oliver, and I have been planning a project for a while now. Our team of 13 people is going to try and break the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest chatterbox (fortune teller) ever made!

The current world record is 1.99m x 1.99m, so we need ours to be at least 2.00m x 2.00m. But since it takes a long time for the record to be verified (more on that later), we’re aiming even bigger — 4.32m x 4.32m! That’s 2.17085427136 times larger than the current record and will need a 7.2m x 7.2m piece of paper.

This epic event will take place from November 19th to 21st.

Imagine a regular chatterbox — now imagine it HUGE!     

Guinness World Records’ verification takes 12–16 weeks (3–4 months) to be confirmed (so annoying!).

Due to a few reasons, this incredible project won’t be an official EPS task — it’ll be a task happening at EPS, but not from EPS (otherwise it would cost $25,000–$30,000!).

Wish us luck as we fold our way into the Guinness Book of World Records!

We are very excited now as the day draws close for our major fundraiser for the year, and one of our favorite days on the EPS calendar!

Please see below the important links for signing up to assist on a stall for each grade on this Saturday, and also a link for booking fair rides for the day:

Volunteers are still needed to help run the stalls on Fair day,  to Volunteer on a stall https://www.wejoinin.com/sheets/rpyeb

Pre-Order Unlimited Rides Wristbands here  https://www.trybooking.com/DFVXO

Thank you – see you on the day!

Star of the week!

For your great progress during Show and Tell, speaking clearly, sharing your thoughts and maintaining eye contact. Well done.

For doing a great job on your Space project this week. Your illustration of the planets and sun was detailed, colourful, and showed great effort – Well done Kiara!

For your ability to take on feedback around making improvements to your handwriting!

For her excellent effort in all of her work, especially in improving her writing.

For going above and beyond when practising time tables. You have shown incredible dedication and improvement.

For being such a great help around our classroom – it doesn’t go unnoticed!

For being an all-rounder, non-stop super star! Everything you do is 100%, throw in your polite and kind natured makes you a Top Teir student! Keep it up!

For your amazing recount writing. You are doing 5-star sentences and putting in 100%. You are a writing star!

For crafting and presenting an engaging ‘GETAWAY’ video on Canada. Top job! You’re a MEGA STAR!

For a wonderful effort creating an information report about the asteroid and Kuiper belts for our Space activity.

For doing a great job adding coins and notes in your maths activity this week. You showed great focus and confidence. You are a STAR!

For your amazing efforts during our money scavenger hunt!

For her enthusiasm and creativity and for always helping out!

For the amazing effort you have put into improving your reading and writing this year. Keep it up!

For beautiful artistry and thoughtful questioning on her reading quadrama.

For your consistent academic prowess and relentless curiosity. You’re such a bright star in the class and a perfect peer! Super Star!

For being a kind friend and working so hard on all tasks. You are a star!

For showing resilience and dedication – working hard to complete work and bringing a positive attitude to school every day.

For your great focus and effort during UFLI sessions. You are a reading/spelling STAR!

For putting a maximum effort into his concentration in maths this week!

For his fabulous astronaut artwork and for completing his spelling test so enthusiastically. We love having you in our grade!

For consistently working hard to uplevel all of his work. Great job Charlie.

For always being a kind and caring classmate. You make everyone’s day better.

For having a great maths mindset and solving challenging number patterns.

For having the courage to share his solution to a challenging mathematical problem with the class. What A STAR!

For her tremendous effort and focus in creating and performing, her SLAM poem on “Cage Animals” – Awesome! You’re a SUPER STAR!

For your amazing Slam Poem. Your poem was incredible and the fact you were brave enough to go FIRST was awesome. I’m so proud of you!

Upcoming Events…

Dear EPS families,

On Wednesday the 19th of November, we are very excited to be running our second ever Junior School Cross Country. Our Prep, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students will be running a cross country course on our school oval (see attached image). Students are encouraged to dress in their house colours for the day (the same house they were in for the athletics earlier in the year).

Families are more than welcome to come and spectate and cheer on your child, withing the designated cheer zones.

The race times will be as follows:

2:15 – Grade 2 race (3 laps)

2:35 – Grade 1 race (2 laps)

2:50 – Prep race (1 lap)

3:00 – Presentations

See attached file for a map of the event area.

We look forward to seeing there for a great afternoon of running!

Mr Kolb and Mr Appleby

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Friday Meal Deal 

Egg and Bacon roll

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